County: Limerick Site name: BALLYNABANOGE (BGE 3/71/5–6)
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 02E0553
Author: Kate Taylor, Margaret Gowen & Co. Ltd.
Site type: Cremated remains and Pit
Period/Dating: Prehistoric (12700 BC-AD 400)
ITM: E 553347m, N 637193m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 52.484158, -8.686855
This site was examined as part of Bord Gáis Éireann’s Pipeline to the West. Three pits, including one cremation burial, were excavated within a 24m-long stretch of the easement straddling the base of a hill and the edge of the level flood-plain of the River Maigue.
Pits 1 and 3 were cut into silty clay geological deposits on the slope above the gravel terrace. Pit 1 was subcircular, with a diameter of 0.5m, and was 0.2m deep, with steep sides and a slightly concave base. The cut of the pit was carefully executed, with the sides and base smoothly finished. The fill was a black, clayey silt with an extremely high charcoal content (80%). Pit 3 was ovoid, measuring 1.25m north–south by 0.6m, and was 0.15m deep, with a bowl-shaped profile. The fill was a mid-grey/brown, clayey silt with a moderate amount of charcoal, mostly in discrete lenses, and occasional limestone pieces.
Pit 5 lay 21m to the east and was cut into the gravel terrace adjacent to the river. The pit was subcircular, with a diameter of 0.42m, and was 0.43m deep, with steep sides and a concave base. The fill was a very dark brown/black silt with a large component of charcoal and cremated bone. Large fragments of bone were observed on the surface of the feature before excavation, and it is likely that additional cremation material had been truncated during topsoil-stripping.
No artefacts were recovered during excavation; however, it is hoped to obtain radiocarbon determinations from the large amount of charcoal recovered from Pit 1 and the cremated bone from Pit 5.
In the absence of absolute dating evidence, it is not possible to determine whether the three features are related chronologically. In the meantime the site is considered likely to be prehistoric in date. The well-defined cut and high charcoal content of Pit 1 is characteristic of Bronze Age cremation burials excavated elsewhere in County Limerick as part of this project (e.g. No. 1244, Excavations 2002, BGE 3/75/2–3, 02E0498), and it is possible that this feature is a symbolic ‘blind burial’ of a similar date. The definite cremation burial in Pit 5 is itself unusual, as initial comparison with other cremation burials excavated during the pipeline project suggests that the presence of recognisable anatomical remains is an uncommon feature. It appears that in most examples elsewhere the cremated bone has been crushed before deposition. Pit 3 lay adjacent to Pit 1 and may be related, although its function is unknown.
2 Killiney View, Albert Road Lower, Glenageary, Co. Dublin
